The approach to developing Ireland's first national health protection strategy and lessons learnt, December 2021 to October 2022.

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of strengthening health protection worldwide. To address this as a public health priority in Ireland, between December 2021 and October 2022 the first national Health Protection Strategy (2022-2027) for the Irish Health Service Executive (HSE) was developed. We describe the approach taken to develop a first national health protection strategy for Ireland, and highlight the key lessons learned.

Enhancing Baccalaureate Nursing Students' Perception of Competence and Confidence During an Alternative Dedicated Education Unit Experience: A Pilot Study.

This quasiexperimental pilot study explored the effect three consecutive adult health Dedicated Education Unit (DEU) clinical placements would have on baccalaureate nursing students' self-perception of growth in competence and confidence. A Likert-type Competence/Confidence Self-Assessment Scale was constructed as a pretest/posttest measure; competence and confidence posttest means increased in each course. The study provides nursing professional development practitioners with information about the alternative DEU concept, its effect on student outcomes, and benefits nursing staff can gain by participating in a DEU experience.

A randomized trial of standardized nursing patient assessment using wireless devices.

A complete and accurate patient assessment database is essential for effective communication, problem identification, planning and evaluation of patient status. When employed consistently for point-of-care documentation, information systems are associated with completeness and quality of documentation. The purpose of this paper is to report on the findings of a randomized, cross-over study conducted to evaluate the adequacy of a standard patient assessment module to support problem identification, care planning and tracking of nursing sensitive patient outcomes.

Establishing a 'train the trainer' education model for clinical skills development.

Demographic trends and service reform present healthcare providers with the challenge of developing appropriate resources to manage increasing numbers of sick and disabled older people. But these changes bring increased opportunities for nursing, and the expansion of the nursing role is crucial as health services strive to meet the changing needs of older people. Against a background of reforms in Ireland and backed by an education and training needs analysis of nursing staff, two stakeholders devised a model of education that would best meet identified demands.

Adriamycin injection into the medial cord of the brachial plexus: computed tomography-guided targeted pain therapy.

Recent advances in radiographic imaging technology allow for therapeutic agents to be placed within the subepineurium of peripheral nerve tissue. Adriamycin, a chemotherapeutic agent, is retrogradely transported by nerves to their cell bodies residing in the dorsal root ganglia. The combined process of radiological approach, an understanding of the anatomy of the brachial nerve plexus, and the use of agents that are retrogradely transported by nerves allows for targeted neuroablation of nerves.

Aromatase inhibitors and musculoskeletal pain in patients with breast cancer.

Aromatase inhibitors are recommended for use by postmenopausal women who have estrogen receptor-positive early-stage breast cancer. They reduce local and distant recurrence more effectively than tamoxifen. Anastrozole (Arimidex, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP), letrozole (Femara, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation), and exemestane (Aromasin, Pfizer Inc.

The feasibility of digital pen and paper technology for vital sign data capture in acute care settings.

The transition from paper to electronic documentation systems in acute care settings is often gradual and characterized by a period in which paper and electronic processes coexist. Intermediate technologies are needed to "bridge" the gap between paper and electronic systems as a means to improve work flow efficiency through data acquisition at the point of care in structured formats to inform decision support and facilitate reuse. The purpose of this paper is to report on the findings of a study conducted on three acute care units at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, MA to evaluate the feasibility of digital pen and paper technology as a means to capture vital sign data in the context of acute care workflows and to make data available in a flow sheet in the electronic medical record.

Challenges of creating a one-size-fits-all oncology CPOE application.

Since August 1996, the oncology clinicians at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) have been using an in-house developed CPOE system to order chemotherapy for their adult population. While the pediatric chemotherapy ordering remained on paper until November 2003, designing the pediatric chemotherapy functionality into the existing CPOE product proved to be very challenging. It was helpful in one sense because there was an existing framework that was familiar to everyone.

A systematic approach to baseline assessment of nursing documentation and enterprise-wide prioritization for electronic conversion.

An important challenge associated with making the transition from paper to electronic documentation systems is achieving consensus regarding priorities for electronic conversion across diverse groups. In our work we focus on applying a systematic approach to evaluating the baseline state of nursing documentation across a large healthcare system and establishing a unified vision for electronic conversion. A review of the current state of nursing documentation across PHS was conducted using structured tools.

Surveying acute care providers in the U.S. to explore the impact of HIT on the role of nurses and interdisciplinary communication in acute care settings.

In 2005, the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society's Nursing Informatics Task Force surveyed acute care providers across the United States to explore the impact of health information technology on the role of nurses and interdisciplinary communication in acute care settings. More than 1,700 healthcare professionals responded to the online survey and provided numerous insights into the impact that clinical information systems have in their daily communication and workflow patterns. This paper provides an overview of survey results from four large healthcare delivery systems with a focus on how the results will be employed to support an evidence-based approach to improving acute care IT systems across the following healthcare delivery systems: Partners and Lifespan Health Systems in the Northeast, Baptist Health South Florida in the Southeast, and Providence HealthSystem in the Northwest.